Leonard Williams Levy (April 9, 1923 – August 24, 2006) was an American
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
, the Andrew W. Mellon All-Claremont Professor of Humanities and chairman of the Graduate Faculty of History at
Claremont Graduate School
The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate (Pomona College, Claremont McKenna Col ...
, California, who specialized in the history of basic American Constitutional freedoms. He was born in
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, and educated at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
as an undergraduate and at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where his mentor for the Ph.D. degree was
Henry Steele Commager
Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998) was an American historian. As one of the most active and prolific liberal intellectuals of his time, with 40 books and 700 essays and reviews, he helped define modern liberalism in the United States.
In the 19 ...
.
Levy's first book was a revision and expansion of his doctoral dissertation on
Lemuel Shaw
Lemuel Shaw (January 9, 1781 – March 30, 1861) was an American jurist who served as chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (1830–1860). Prior to his appointment he also served for several years in the Massachusetts House ...
, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. ''The Law of the Commonwealth and Chief Justice Shaw'' was first published by Harvard University Press in 1957, and has regularly been reprinted.
Levy's most honored book was his 1968 study ''
Origins of the Fifth Amendment'', focusing on the history of the privilege against self-incrimination. This book was awarded the 1969
Pulitzer Prize for History
The Pulitzer Prize for History, administered by Columbia University, is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished book about the history ...
. He wrote almost forty other books, such as ''The Establishment Clause'', ''Treason Against God: A History of the Offense of Blasphemy'', ''Blasphemy: Verbal Offenses Against the Sacred, from Moses to Salman Rushdie'', and ''Religion and the First Amendment''. He also was editor-in-chief of the four-volume ''Encyclopaedia of The American Constitution''. In his 1999 ''Origins of the Bill of Rights'' he described the political background and intent of most of the amendments in the Bill of Rights.
Levy's most controversial work focused on the early history of
freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...
in colonial and revolutionary America. In 1960 he published ''Legacy of Suppression: Freedom of Speech and Press in Early American History,'' in which he argued that the law governing freedom of the press, and thus the original intention of the First Amendment's free-press clauses, was narrower than the generally libertarian views held by James Madison, and, in particular, that the law of freedom of the press included the old English common law crime of
seditious libel
Sedition and seditious libel were criminal offences under English common law, and are still criminal offences in Canada. Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection a ...
. Levy's work challenged the prevailing views codified in the work of
Zechariah Chafee
Zechariah Chafee Jr. (December 7, 1885 – February 8, 1957) was an American judicial philosopher and civil rights advocate, described as "possibly the most important First Amendment scholar of the first half of the twentieth century" by Richar ...
, who had long taught at the
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
. As a pendant to his 1960 monograph, he published ''Jefferson and Civil Liberties: The Darker Side'' in 1963; this book offered a vigorous critique of
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
for holding narrower views of freedom of speech and press than has long been believed. ''Jefferson and Civil Liberties'' began the modern reconsideration of Jefferson's historical reputation. In the 1973 paperback edition, Levy added an extensive preface discussing and responding to the criticism that the book received for being critical of Jefferson.
In 1985 after nearly two decades of research, Levy published ''Emergence of a Free Press,'' a thorough and wide-ranging revision of ''Legacy of Suppression.'' ''Emergence of a Free Press'' received the 1986 Mencken Award for Best Book from the Free Press Association. While maintaining that his earlier views of the state of the law were correct, Levy acknowledged the criticisms posed by historians of journalism, who stressed the difference between "law on the books" and "law as applied". Thus, Levy conceded that in actuality freedom of the press may well have been wider and more generous than his earlier book had posited.
In 1990 Levy was appointed a distinguished scholar in residence; adjunct professor of history and political science at
Southern Oregon State College in
Ashland, Oregon
Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 cen ...
. He died August 24, 2006, in Ashland.
Works
* ''The Law of the Commonwealth and Chief Justice Shaw'' (Harvard University Press, 1957)
* ''Legacy of Suppression: Freedom of Speech and Press in Early American History'' (Harvard University Press, 1960)
* ''Jefferson and Civil Liberties: The Darker Side'' (Harvard University Press, 1963)
* ''Freedom of the Press From Zenger to Jefferson: Early American Libertarian Theories'' (Carolina Academic Press, January 1, 1966)
* ''Judicial Review and the Supreme Court'' (1967)
* ''
Origins of the Fifth Amendment: The Right Against Self-Incrimination'' (Oxford University Press, 1968) (1969
Pulitzer Prize for History
The Pulitzer Prize for History, administered by Columbia University, is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished book about the history ...
)
* ''The Supreme Court Under Earl Warren'' (1972)
* ''Judgements: Essays on American Constitutional History'' (1972)
* ''Treason Against God: A History of the Offense of Blasphemy'' (1981)
* ''A Conversation with Bernard W. Levy'' by George Forsyth (1982)
* ''Emergence of a Free Press'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1985)
* ''Religion and the First Amendment'' (1986)
* ''The Establishment Clause: Religion and the First Amendment'' (1989)
* ''Blasphemy: Verbal Offense Against the Sacred, From Moses to Salman Rushdie'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993)
* ''The Origins of the Bill of Rights'' (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1999)
* ''Original Intent and the Framers' Constitution'' (Ivan R. Dee Publisher, January 1, 2000)
* ''The Palladium of Justice: Origins of Trial by Jury'' (Ivan R. Dee Publisher, 2000)
References
Mencken Awards list of winners
External links
* R. B. Bernstein
"Distinguished historian Leonard W. Levy dies at 83"* Ronald Collins
"Famed First Amendment scholar Leonard W. Levy dies"* Stanley N. Katz
"Remembering Leonard W. Levy"* Adam Liptak
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Leonard
1923 births
2006 deaths
Jewish American historians
First Amendment scholars
Pulitzer Prize for History winners
Writers from Ashland, Oregon
Columbia University alumni
Southern Oregon University faculty
University of Michigan alumni
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews